Manchester

History

The area known as Manchester began its recorded history as the camping grounds of a small band of peaceful Native Americans known as the Podunk tribe. The area was settled by colonists around 1673, some 40 years after Thomas Hooker led a group of Puritans from Massachusetts Bay Colony to found Hartford. At the time, the community was known as Orford Parish, a name that can still be found on the memorial to local Revolutionary War soldiers. The many rivers and brooks provided power for paper, lumber, and textile industries, and the town quickly evolved into an industrial center. The town of Hartford once included the land now occupied by the towns of Manchester, East Hartford, and West Hartford. In 1783, East Hartford became a separate town, which included Manchester in its city limits until 1823. The Pitkin Glassworks operated from 1783 to 1830 as the first successful glassworks in Connecticut. The owner of the glassworks, Captain Richard Pitkin, was given a 25-year monopoly on glass as recompense for providing gunpowder to the Continental Army during the American Revolution. The Pitkin Glassworks Ruin has been preserved by the town's historical society. In 1838, the Cheney family started what became the world's largest silk mill. Eventually, the Cheney family employed a quarter of residents and actively recruited immigrants to work in the mills. The manufacturing presence in the town made Manchester an ideal industrial community. The mills, houses of the owners, and homes of the workers are now part of the Cheney Brothers Historic District, a National Historic Landmark. Also of note are the E.E. Hilliard Company Woolen Mills. Founded by Aaron Buckland and later sold to the Hilliard family, the Hilliard Mills are the oldest woolen mill site in the country.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Manchester has a total area of , of which is land and , or 1.00%, is water. The Manchester census-designated place consists of the urban center of the town and has a total area of , or about 23% of the town's total area. A total of of Manchester is land, and , or 0.56%, is water.

Race & ethnicity